A Collection of Double Drabbles
by Othiara
Summary: Double drabbles for Harry Potter. All are unrelated and exactly 200 words.
1. Gone

He had told her he was going, but she was still frozen with shock when she saw him return. Hagrid carried him in his arms. Knowing couldn't have prepared her for that sight.

Hermione heard Ginny scream. She still couldn't look away from Harry's body. She couldn't think of it as just a body. Harry had to be in there somewhere. He couldn't really be gone. Voldemort and Neville's words barely registered in her mind. She had always been a good listener, but somehow that had left with her friend.

All those people had died for him. Fred, Lupin, and Tonks had died. Those were people he loved. How could he lose sight of what they were fighting for? Why would he choose to die? He'd been her friend for nearly 7 years. How could he be gone?

He wasn't. He was out of Hagrid's arms and on the ground. Hermione was so relieved a smile broke out on her face, and she burst into laughter. She turned and could see Ron grinning too. They both knew Harry still had one more battle to face, but at least he stood a chance. He hadn't died yet. Just one more battle.


	2. Smile

"Luna, wait up!" Neville's voice carried through the vast hallways as he raced to catch up with her.

"What's your hurry?" he asked.

"I'm helping the wounded. It seemed like the thing to do. Nearly everyone's hurt." She was so generous to volunteer her time. Neville loved how thoughtful she was.

"Yeah, well, that's what happens in a battle. Can I help?" She was surprised he wanted to help. He seemed more like the type to prepare for battle in the small hour Voldemort had given them to hand over Harry. She was glad for the help, though, so she smiled at him and nodded.

"So, what do I do?" He didn't really want to admit he was clueless about healing, but he didn't have another choice. She didn't seem to notice his hesitance to ask and showed him what he would need to do.

"Luna?" he asked when she made to go. He grabbed her hand. She turned to face him.

"I was going to ask you out, so, um, do you want to go on a date sometime? You know, if we make it through this."

"I would enjoy that very much." He grinned and began healing wounds.


	3. What If?

Al had been excited to go to Hogwarts ever since his older brother, James, had gotten his letter, but now that he was on platform 9 3/4 about to board the train, he wasn't sure he was ready. He had never been far from home before, but that wasn't the fear that plagued his mind.

What if he couldn't make any friends? He might have family there, but that didn't count. What if he was sorted into Slytherin? He wanted to be in Gryffindor with all his heart, but what if the sorting hat didn't want him there? He stood quietly and didn't get into the train. His dad came over to talk to him.

After the talk, Al felt better. He knew he had his say in where he would be sorted. He boarded the train with confidence and started searching for a seat.

He sat with James and Rose, his cousin. No matter how much his older brother teased him, Al's excitement wouldn't waver. The train ride seemed too long. He wanted to get to Hogwarts.

At last he stepped out on the grounds for the first time. Just glancing around, he knew it was his new home.


	4. Ending

Voldemort seethed in rage. The boy had found the cup! He had found most of the other horcruxes too. They were the key to Voldemort's immortality. The boy knew that and took them because of it. It was all just to anger him. The boy would not find the last few, though. He would make sure of that. Much as he may try, Harry would not find Nagini or the diadem. He would die before that.

Voldemort had killed so many people when he last rose to power. Now he was killing people and gaining power again. Harry Potter had been his downfall that time, but he wouldn't be this time. His living had been luck, nothing more. Voldemort was more clever and had more experience. Harry Potter was simply a schoolboy. He didn't stand a chance, but Harry Potter was a very lucky boy. Now, though, his luck had run out.

The next time they would meet, Voldemort would kill him. He could choose to come willingly or watch all his friends die first. Voldemort knew which he would choose.

Then he would rule over the wizarding world. That was a perfect ending to this story.


	5. Talkative

She had been thinking about him all summer. In fact, she had been thinking about him for a bit longer than that, perhaps since Ron had mentioned meeting him on the train, or even when her parents mentioned him when she was younger.

But she hadn't started *talking* about him until this summer, after he allegedly saved the world, which Ron confirmed. It was all just so heroic, especially with him being the Boy Who Lived and all. Ron told her that he was a person, too, underneath all those titles and achievements, and to stop talking about him so much. But she just _couldn't._

Now he stood near the table, and her eyes nearly popped out of her head. She must have jumped about a foot high, and her face was warm, so she knew her face must have been beet red. She ran up the stairs before anyone could say anything.

She almost laughed at her own stupidity. Harry Potter was in her house, and she couldn't go downstairs or think straight. This was the boy she'd been talking about all summer! There was excitement and terror in her eyes as she made her way down the steps.


	6. Oddity

There is an odd assortment of children at Hogwarts. With the rules banning half-breeds gone, the crowd gets stranger each year, which some resent but most don't. Vampires and werewolves can roam the campus freely, just as long as they promise not to bite and promise to take their potion when the moon reaches its full stage.

They don't for the most part, though. While all that might be true in theory, most half-breeds are still scared enough of normal wizards after the war that they don't want to be involved in their schools. For the most part, Teddy Lupin is alone.

It's not that he doesn't have friends. He's the only one like him, the only one who can change his appearance, and close to the only one who will turn into a wolf at the turn of the tides if he doesn't take his medicine. It doesn't bother him most days; he has plenty of friends, but some days he wishes he could meet his parents, if only so he could know what they did when they felt different.

Of course, his pondering falls away the second he finds something to distract himself, but it will return again.


	7. Chosen

Before this day, you had never been called chosen. In fact, you had been told on more than one occasion that your aunt and uncle had _not_ chosen for you to show up on their doorstep, and it's obvious they wish you hadn't. You're not used to all this attention, and everyone staring at you makes you feel very nervous.

Shaking hands isn't your specialty, mainly because you were never properly introduced to guests, but you end up doing a lot of this in Diagon Alley. Hagrid's kind throughout, and he even buys you an owl for your birthday. You try to show him you're grateful however you can. You're not very good at this; no one ever does anything for you.

When you see chocolate frogs that move, ceilings that tell the weather, and a hat that talks, you're happy beyond belief. You truly think that this can become normal for you. You like it much better than everything else you've seen, the life where you're not chosen, not good at shaking hands, and don't think everything that's going on around you is not only possible but real. You'd trade your old life for this one in a heartbeat.


	8. Struggle for Equality

Hermione didn't know where she was expecting the food to come from, but it wasn't this. At least that settled where her campaigns for SPEW would start.

* * *

Starting SPEW a little closer to home was harder than Hermione anticipated. The main problem was the house elves didn't seem to want freedom. She was sure it was just because they weren't used to the idea. They would come around if she was persistent.

* * *

Hermione felt guilty. The house elves were often crying or angry because of her efforts, but it would be for the best in the end, right?

* * *

It wasn't until after Hermione left Hogwarts that she finally decided to give up on SPEW. She hadn't actually done anything with it in so long that it was old news, but that was when, in her mind, it was made final.

* * *

Nothing house elf related came up until they were back at Hogwarts. Ron and Hermione were in the chamber that used to house a basilisk, and he must have said something right because she kissed him, but she didn't remember what they had said, nor did she care. SPEW wasn't the most important thing, and it never really had been.


	9. Fate

It was when Harry saw what had to happen in the pensieve that he learned of his destiny. A slaughtering boy, raised to be killed, like he was no more than livestock. Not a boy. Not a man. A sacrifice.

If that was the way it had to be, that would be the way it would go down. He just wanted all this to be over. He didn't have to like it. It wasn't like his opinion mattered to anyone.

It was when Harry saw the bodies in the Great Hall, heard the sobs of those who had survived, that he understood. Someone had to do this job, be the one to die. So many people already had. Tonks, Lupin, Fred, Dobby, Sirius, his mom, his dad. Too many people had already died. He would be the last. He would end the suffering. And that wasn't such a bad purpose to have.

So he walked. It was a necessity and a final stand and a comfort all at once. He saw some of the people who had died for him. They further confirmed his belief that he was doing the right thing. So he walked on to confront his destiny.


	10. Patience

He was cold and scaly, more reptilian than human, which was good. He didn't need to look like a human when he was above them and their troubles. He was a god, and they'd best remember it. Any who didn't would be taken care of. And everyone would know what it meant to be taken care of by him. Soon. Not any day now, not any week, but this plan would draw to a close in just a few years, and after all the time he'd waited, that time didn't mean a thing. No, this world was as good as his, already had his name on it, in fact.

The boy. He waited for the boy who had tricked him time and time again. The boy himself was just a child and didn't matter at all, but he gave the people hope, and that was the last thing the people needed. The boy was just employing the simple, naive tricks of a schoolboy; it was only a matter of time before he had an off day, and that was when he would pounce. But for now, he would just lie in wait, and soon, soon, the world would become his.


	11. Last Night

Lily takes in her husband, trying to capture as much of him as she can in one good look, because she knows this could very well be the last time. He's so handsome, with his uncombable hair and his slightly offset glasses. She kisses him one last time, but it's brief, fleeting, because they both have somewhere else they have to be, and he's already here.

She runs up the stairs, nearly tripping a couple of times, and grips the wall tightly when she reaches the top, a bit out of breath even though she's fit enough. She knows she's a nervous wreck and must look it, but it doesn't matter. She has to protect her son.

Harry is bouncing in his crib with a little smile, not even really noticing that Mummy is upset, and she's glad of that. Somehow, his presence is grounding. She takes a few deep breaths before standing again. There's a yell and a thump from downstairs, and she knows that means James, her James, is dead.

But she can't think of that, not now. It's about Harry, about protecting him, and she stands in front of his crib as Voldemort himself enters the bedroom.


	12. In the Absence of Time

Sirius didn't like it in his cell. It was cold all the time, and lonely, and he wondered every day what he had ever done to deserve this hell.

At first, he was hungry. They brought food along irregularly, or at least, it felt irregular. Time didn't exist anymore, not while he was in there. That was just before the dementors had finished adjusting his eating schedule, though. They made him lose his appetite, and he started to prefer the strange eating schedule.

Dementors always stood just outside his door. Perhaps that was just what it felt like, though, and they were stationed down the hall. Sirius learned not to trust his own perception, because the dementors could confuse his mind, even when he had nothing to feel sorry for.

He began to speak to himself one day, because he didn't like the silence. There was a way to fight the dementors with speech, with words of courage and nonsense. Now he understood how the prisoners were driven mad. They went insane trying to stop from turning out like the others.

For years and years (time had lost its meaning), he wished and hoped and prayed for a way out.


End file.
